Most Social Media Child Safety Features Fail New Research Finds As Age Verification Faces Scrutiny

A new study by Cybersafety Research Center has found that more than half of the child safety features on major social media platforms do not work as promised, raising fresh questions about how well children are protected online.

Under the law, platforms must take "reasonable steps" to check users' ages, and the government has advised companies to use multiple age-check methods instead of relying on just one system. However, several studies suggest that many children under 16 are still able to access social media platforms, leading Australia to double the maximum fines last month and warn companies they could face court action.

"If you are a parent, you should know that we have found systemic issues with the design and implementation of many of these features", Cybersafety Research Center report states. It also says social media harms to children "are not hypothetical, and that when they do occur the consequences can be irreversible."

They tested whether children could find and use safety features, whether teens could bypass them, and whether adults could contact minors despite restrictions. Features were marked as failures if they were hard to find, failed to work as advertised, or both.

The report states, "Safety features, in order to be effective, need to be on by default or easy to activate, be resilient to normal teenager use, and should demonstrably protect against harm."

On TikTok, a child account searching for eating disorder and self-harm content later received search suggestions including "how to pretend to eat your food" and "razor blade skin", according to the report.

Researchers also found that an adult Snapchat account could locate and message a child account without restrictions. According to the report, the child account "received the friend request and upon accepting it was able to view the history of messages that the adult had sent them with no warnings."

A Snapchat spokesperson said the company cares "deeply about the safety, privacy, and well-being of all Snapchatters, and our teams have worked for years to build safeguards, launch safety tutorials, and partner with experts … we are continually evaluating and strengthening our protections." The Snapchat spokesperson also said many findings came from "intentionally taking actions to bypass protections that are not representative of the typical user experience", according to CNN.

Researchers said some child safety features did work well. On TikTok, children under 13 are automatically moved to "TikTok for Younger Users," a view-only version that removes risky features like search and messaging.

Durva More is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times, where she covers finance, and global news. She brings experience across digital and television journalism, with a strong focus on breaking news, business reporting, and international affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Durva worked as an International News Writer at The Economic Times, covering a diverse range of subjects including global politics, business, sports, entertainment, and major world events. She also worked as a Business Reporter with NDTV Profit. A postgraduate diploma holder in Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism, Durva is passionate about field reporting and storytelling. She thrives on the adrenaline of chasing stories, speaking with people from different walks of life, and amplifying voices that deserve to be heard. Her reporting is driven by curiosity, accuracy, and a commitment to making complex subjects accessible to readers. When she is not chasing stories or covering breaking news, Durva enjoys reading books and painting. She loves exploring new ideas, meeting people, and learning about different perspectives. For her, both journalism and art are ways to understand the world and tell stories that matter.Read More